In this month's roundup of industry news, issues and updates, we feature articles covering the different kinds of LTE, growing Wi-Fi usage and the evolution of the small cell and Carrier Ethernet markets. Enjoy this recap from August.
IT Business Edge: The Two Faces of LTE — August 1st
LTE is a well-known buzzword in the mobile industry, but most people do not know that there are two different types of LTE, let alone distinguish between them. LTE can actually be frequency-division duplex (FDD) or time-division duplex (TDD), but FDD is more prominent at the moment. The difference between FDD and TDD is the number of channels they use, as well as how they each regulate uploads and downloads. Because of these differences, many mobile operators either accommodate one or the other. This inconsistency could cause many problems for subscribers, but mobile operators are reacting quickly to make sure that LTE users are not inconvenienced. Dual-mode smartphones have started emerging on the market that can function on FDD or TDD, making it easier for customers to get LTE service wherever they go.
Service Provider IT Report: Wi-Fi Changes the Mobile Data Game — August 15th
Wi-Fi has become a huge part of Americans' daily lives. Restaurants, airports, offices and more accommodate device users by allowing access to public Wi-Fi networks from laptops, tablets, phones and other smart devices — and consumers enjoy the low cost and high availability of Wi-Fi networks. As a result, mobile users used Wi-Fi four times more than they used their data plan to access the web in the second quarter of this year. Looking ahead, Wi-Fi bandwidth is predicted to increase by 14.5 percent per quarter, far outpacing cell bandwidth growth, which is predicted to increase by 10.7 percent per quarter.
Light Reading: The Tall Order for Small Cell Backhaul — August 22nd
The small cell backhaul market has boomed in the last 18-24 months, but mobile operators are still seeing challenges when it comes to deploying this new technology. This isn't surprising — mobile operators expect a lot from small cell backhaul, including low cost, high capacity and high quality of service — but with so many technology options on the market, the new challenge of selecting the appropriate small cell for each deployment now looms. This increase in options is helpful in some ways, particularly considering the regulations that come with implementing small cell backhaul in outdoor, public access areas. However, many mobile operators still need to define a strategy for combining small cells with the variety of backhaul options available depending on the locations and use cases of the small base stations.
Carrier Ethernet News: Ovum Sees Strong Carrier Ethernet Growth Rates, Especially in APAC Region— August 22st
A new study released by Ovum reports that global Carrier Ethernet service revenues are predicted to reach $62 billion by 2018. While this growth rate is still slightly less than what we saw in the technology's early days, the next five years will still see higher growth for Carrier Ethernet than anything else in telecom. This growth has three major components: growth in the number of ports, speed of ports and revenue growth. With that growth, it's clear that Carrier Ethernet is no longer a fad in the telecom industry. Rather, it has become a money-making, “bread and butter,” staple for communications service providers.
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